Cassia Scamander and the Triwizard Tournement
by Lunaweasley94
Summary: The Triwizard Tournament is back with a BANG as Hogwarts and two un-thought-of-until-now schools battle it out in brand new and unbelievable tasks! . Please read and it's nice to review :D
1. Staying With the Weasleys

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to Harry Potter or any of the characters from the series. Just sayin'**

**Cassia is my OC and the characters from the other schools (and their school names etc), and some other characters are all my own, **

**But the world in which they live and the other people in the story are JK Rowling's**

_Cassia Scamander and the return of Tri-Wizard Tournement- Chapter One_

* * *

><p>'I'm quite excited for Cassia. Do you think she'll put her name into the goblet, Rolf?' Luna asked dreamily as she waved her wand at a pot of strange, purple soup.<p>

Rolf laughed,

'Of course she will, darling. Cassia could never let such an opportunity pass her by'

'What opportunity?' Cassia asked absently as she strolled into the kitchen with her long wavy brown hair sitting messily, wearing an ankle length, yellow dress with butterflies sewed all over it and orange sandals.

'You'll have to wait, Cassia. You'll find out soon enough!' Luna said mysteriously. Cassia shrugged in acceptance and sat at the dinner table to wait for her soup.

It was the day before Cassia would be arriving at Hogwarts for her 6th year and she was just glad to be able to see all of her wonderful friends again. She would be going to the station with the Weasleys this year, Rose had invited her to come along. Rose and Cassia had become very close over the years both through the friendship of their parents and the fact that they were both proud Ravenclaws.

Luna placed a bowl of the purple soup on front of Cassia who's face lit up as she began shovelling it down her throat.

When Cassia had finished eating, she ran up to her room to collect her things. Her trunk was orange and had flowers and butterflys painted all over it. She brought everything downstairs, including her pet toad, Rupert, who followed her obediently to the living room.

'Remember to owl me at least once a week!' Luna said through a lump in her throat as she embraced her daughter tightly

'Of course I will, mum'

'And, sweety, be careful. We love you' Rolf said as he hugged Cassia warmly

Cassia waved at her parents before turning on the spot and appearing with a loud POP outside Rose's door. She knocked twice.

'Oh, Cassia, come in' Mrs Weasley exclaimed as she grabbed Cassia for a hug. Her bushy brown hair always tickled Cassia's neck, but Cassia didn't mind, she thought that Mrs Weasley was fantastic.

'Cassi!'

Rose bolted down the stairs and Cassia ran at her, too. They hugged and spoke so fast and high pitched that Hermione couldn't understand a single bit of what they were saying. The friends hadn't seen eachother all summer because Cassia had been on holiday with her parents searching for a five-legged Heckle Bore, they didnt find one but they had an amazing time.

'Cassi, this summer has been so boring without you. James, Albus and Lily have been over a lot but it wasn't the same as it would be with you. They all _still _make fun of me for not being in Gryffindor!'

'Well I'm here now and at least we both know that Ravenclaw's the best!'

They both giggled and made their way to Rose's room. The room was painted blue and silver and had Ravenclaw banners draped all over. Although Rose loved her family she enjoyed the fact that she was different from them. Rose and Cassia had bonded greatly over their willingness to be different, their uniqueness.

'Look at this, Cassi' Rose said as she pulled out a bright blue broomstick from her wardrobe, 'It's from Uncle George. It's a broom that can make anyone or anything on it invisible and it's faster than any broom there is! This is the only one he's made so far, it was a prototype that came out perfectly. They wont even be out for like a year!'

Cassia was thoroughly impressed, but also a little confused

'That's amazing. But doesn't George own a joke shop?'

'Well, yes' Rose said, 'But he has decided to expand. He's actually surprisingly good at broom designing'

They talked for hours before finally falling into bed, Rose on top bunk and Cassia bottom, and both lay awake for hours thinking of Hogwarts.


	2. Platform 9 and 3 quarters

'Rose!' Ron shouted 'Cassia! Girls it's time to get up. Hugo is already dressed and James and Albus are here. Hurry up'

Cassia rubbed her eyes as she slowly sat up.

'We're getting up, Mr Weasley'

'Yeh, dad. Calm down' Rose mumbled, still lying down with her eyes closed.

Cassia smiled mischeviously, grabbed the corners of Rose's duvet and pulled it off of her. Rose grumbled.

'Rose wake up!' Cassia shook Rose until, finally, she sat up

They pulled on clothes, Cassia wore a knee length, floaty, blue dress and white sandals and left her hair to sit untidily as she always did. Rose wore white, baggy trousers with a blue tee shirt and white trainers and her long red hair in a pony tail.

'Locomotor trunk' The two said together, flicking their wands at their trunks.

James and Albus were sat at the table in the living room playing wizards chess. James looked almost exactly like his father with thick, messy black hair, big green eyes and quite a thin build. He didn't wear glasses. Albus was younger than James. He had light brown hair and brown eyes.

When Rose and Cassia came down the stairs James stopped playing immidiately.

'Oh look, Albus, there's two of them. At least you're not alone, Rose' James said in a mock-sympathetic tone

'Oh shut up, James. You're eighteen years old now. Grow up!' Rose sounded angry, she had quite a temper so James decided to change the subject.

'So, Cassia, did you have a fall out with your hair brush this morning or what?' James teased, Albus held back a laugh

'I'm going to school, James, not a beauty pageant. I'll be judged on how well I do and how nice I am to other people. Not how shiny my hair looks today'

'Well you're lucky it's not a beauty pageant because you would come in last!' James said, being unable to think of a better come-back

'Oh burn!' Rose laughed, 'Youre going to need a whole team of healers after that, Cassi'

Rose laughed at the redness growing on James' face and with that, James turned back to his game of chess just as Ron walked in, putting his coat on.

'Right, it's time to go. I'll take Albus by side-along apparation and the rest of you just apparate to the station, okay?'

Everyone nodded as they stood up, grabbing their things and throwing on their coats. There was a loud POP and they all appeared on platform 9 3/4.

'Goodbye, dad!' Rose called as she and Cassia sprinted onto the train to find a compartment.

'See you later, Uncle Ron' James said cooly, patting Ron on his shoulder before walking off to the Prefects compartment.

Albus waved and scurried off to find his friends, not wanting to be seen being too affectionate with any adult incase his friends teased him.

Cassia and Rose searched through the train for a compartment and just as she held her hand out to open the door of an empty compartment, Rose was almost knocked off her feet by a tall, pale, blonde Slytherin boy.

'Oh I'm so sorry, Rose!' He cried, guiltily, grabbing her shoulder to help her catch her balance

Rose and Cassia were both shocked. Scorpius Malfoy apoligizing? And he sounded serious.

'Er, it's alright' Rose said, confused, as she opened the door and walked into the compartment.

Cassia and Rose sat in their compartment, later joined by their friend, Mark Walker. Mark was an Irish boy and also a Ravenclaw. He slid open the door and slumped into his seat.

'Prefect duty is such a pain. Your cousin is alright, though, Rose. He's funny' Mark said, 'I've never really spoken to him 'till now but he's a right laugh'

'I've never noticed' Cassia said, looking confused 'He seems a bit awkward to me. Can never think of a decent come-back. I guess it's pretty funny when he's all confused and lost for words, though'

The rest of the train ride went in rather quickly, it always did. Finally, they reached Hogwarts and made their way to the Great Hall for the feast.


	3. The Big Announcement

Cassia, Rose and Mark sat together at their usual spot at the Ravenclaw table to watch the sorting, listen to the headmistress' speech and eat their feast. Professor Mcgonagall stood up from her Headmistress chair at the teachers table and silence fell upon the great hall.

'Welcome, students, to another year at Hogwarts. And for some, to their very first year' she said, with a look at the first years 'I would like you all to be patient and quiet as the first years are sorted into their houses.'

The first years walked forward one by one to be sorted There were many cheers from each of the tables as the sorting took place. Finally, everyone was sorted and it was time to eat.

'Be proud of your house, students. Your housemates will be like your family and you will need them. You may not be happy with where you have been sorted but, believe me, you will realise soon enough that it is where you truly belong. The sorting hat is surprisingly accurate. But for now, you are all hungry, as am I. So we shall eat!'

The Head Mistress smiled as mounds of food appeared across each of the tables. There was chicken and turkey and steak and fish, and salads and baked potatoes and everything else that you could possibly think of. When the deserts came, they were all surprised to fit so much cake and ice cream. But somehow they did. Everyone ate their own weight in food until finally they could not fit another mouthful in their stomachs. At that moment, the plates disappeared and Minerva Mcgonagall stood up from her chair.

'I hope that you all enjoyed your feast. Now I have an announcement to make which I think you will all find very interesting. There will be no Quidditch House Cup this year' The whole hall suddenly sat bolt upright, confused and many looking outraged 'The reason being, that we will be holding a rather huge event this year which will require the use of the quidditch pitch.'

'This year, Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament.' this was followed by both confused and excited expressions along with a massive amount of whispering from the pupils 'This is the first time that the tournament will be held since Nineteen Ninety-Four and I hope that you will do us proud by making it less disasterous than the last. I must remind you all that this tournament is not a game, it is serious and dangerous and must not be taken lightly. To enter the tournament you must write your name on a piece of parchment and drop it into this goblet'

The caretaker, Grindle Philps, carried in a huge goblet and sat it on a table on front of Mcgonagall.

'Putting your name into this goblet is the equivalent of making an unbreakable vow to take part in the tournament if your name is chosen. You cannot back out. And you most certainly _cannot _enter unless you are of age as this tournament is extremelly dangerous.'

'Now that I have covered this, I am happy to introduce to you some new students who will be staying here at Hogwarts this year for the Tournament from the school Shuantraí Alainn and the school Znaczenie Spryt.

Suddenly, a mesmorising sound came from the door of the Great Hall as the students from Shuantraí Alainn skipped and leaped in, singing the most beautiful song that anyone had ever heard with lyrics of Irish Gaelic. The whole school would have fallen asleep to the angelic sound if it hadnt been for the quick footsteps of the Znaczenie Spryt students shyly scurrying in. They seemed not to want the attention, just walking quickly to the empty seats of the Ravenclaw table. The Shuantraí Alainn students sat with the Hufflepuffs.

'Welcome to Hogwarts!' Minerva exclaimed to the students and their headmaster and headmistress. Shuantraí Alainn's head master wore bright pink robes and a tall purple wizards hat with a picture of a unicorn on it. He was rather chubby and red faced but seemed very friendly, as did his pupils whom were getting along swimmingly with the Hufflepuffs. Znaczenie Spryt's head mistress was an old, tall, thin woman who wore glasses and seemed too old to still be alive.

'Only one student from each school will be chosen. It is known that the winner of the Tri Wizard cup recieves eternal glory and the respect of most witches and wizards as it takes such great bravery, strong will and magical ability to get through even one of the three tasks'

'Now you may all mingle before going to your dorms. The goblet is open for entries from this moment on'

Professor Mcgonagall pointed her wand at the cup and flames began to burst out of it. All of the new foreign students, a few Hufflepuffs, almost every Slytherin and Gryffindor (including James and Scorpius) and some Ravenclaws went straight to the Goblet to enter their names.

'What do you think, Cass, Mark?' Rose asked, breathlessly, to Cassia and Mark, 'Should we enter?'

'I don't know. It sounds very dangerous. We could get hurt... Or even killed' Cassia pondered for a moment, 'I think that we should sleep on it'

The three of them agreed. Mark had to stay back to help the younger students as he was a prefect but Cassia and Rose left the hall through the massive crowd gathered around the goblet, smiling at the foreign students as they went, and straight to Ravenclaw tower.


	4. Aron Kaminski

Cassia woke up earlier than Rose on the first morning of their sixth year at Hogwarts. Deciding not to wake her friend this early, Cassia left the dorm to sit in the common room and read a book until breakfast. She left the dorm holding a rather large book on antidotes and sat in a comfortable chair by the fire to read.

Barely ten minutes had passed when Cassia was shaken by the sound of a door opening. It was someone leaving the boys dorm whom Cassia recognised as one of the Znaczenie Spryt' boys. He seemed surprised to see her and was also holding a book. One fairly larger than Cassia's. The boy was quite thin with dirty blonde hair and wore glasses.

'Good morning' Cassia said politely as he looked at her awkwardly, 'Have you been enjoying Hogwarts? I hope that the boys are being nice to you. I didn't even notice that any of the girls from your school had come up to the ravenclaw girls dorm'

'Good morning. Oh yes they have been very nice to us' He replied shyly, his Polish accent made him a little hard to understand but his english was flawless 'There is only one girl with us. She probably made sure that she was not noticed. She is quite shy'

Cassia smiled and gestured for the boy to sit in the chair next to hers

'My name is Cassia Scamander. It's lovely to meet you' she held out her hand for the boy to shake

'I am Aron Kaminski' Aron replied, taking her hand and shaking it, 'what is this you are reading?'

'It's a book about antidotes to poisons. It's very interesting. My friend Rose's mother gave it to me for my birthday this year. What are you reading?'

'It is a book about the history of the Triwizard Tournament. I thought that I should research it incase I am chosen. Have you entered your name?' Aron asked hopefully

Cassia looked down, 'Not yet. I'm afraid it might be too dangerous'

'Do not be afraid. You should enter, Cassia. It's very worthwhile and I'm sure that you would do very well.'

Blushing, Cassia quickly returned to her book and so did Aron.

After about an hour, people started to leave their dorms and make for the Great Hall for breakfast. Cassia waited until Mark and Rose had both left their dorms and come up to her.

'Did you talk to any of the Znaczenie Spryt' boys, Mark?' Cassia asked curiously as they walked to the Great Hall

Mark laughed, 'Nah, I was too tired, mate. Just wanted to go to sleep after that feast. I'll probably speak to the Shuantraí Alainn students, though. I know most of 'em'

Cassia and Rose halted, suddenly

'How on Earth do you know the Shuantraí Alainn students?' Rose asked, intrigued

'Well this is pretty embarrasing, if I'm honest. But my mother actually really wanted me to go there. She went to that school and thought that it was the best place for me, too. Trouble is, I can't sing to save meself. Shuantraí Alainn is all about the singing. They actually hold auditions for people who want in. Most of the students who have come are from the same part of Ireland as I am, so I met most of 'em at the auditions. They seemed really nice but they all had a right laugh at me audition. Even the teachers laughed, actually'

Rose and Cassia held back laughs at Marks story, it was clearly traumatic and they were his friends, but it was difficult not to laugh at the thought of Mark singing the type of songs that the Shuantraí Alainn students sung due to his strong masculinity.

When they reached the Great Hall there was a small crowd around the Goblet who were all dropping pieces of parchment inside. Rose looked uncomfortable,

'I'm not sure that I want to put my name in. I'm really scared. I don't think that I would manage it' Rose said quietly to Cassia and Mark

'Well I definitely am' Mark said as he marched straight across the Great Hall to the Goblet, took out a piece of parchment, wrote his name on it and dropped it in. The Ravenclaws all cheered as Mark walked back to a startled Cassia and Rose.

'What about you, Cass?' Mark asked breathlessy.

'Yeh... Yeh I'm going to enter. Definitely'

Cassia took a piece of parchment and wrote her name on it before walking confidently to the goblet and dropping it in. Hardly anyody cheered as she did this. Cassia wasn't quite as liked as Mark; Not that she cared at all what anyone thought of her. People thought that she was weird while Mark was charming, funny and rather handsome. He was tall with thick, dark brown, curly hair and large green eyes. But Mark didn't care for anyone who thought badly of his friends and would much rather spend time with Cassia and Rose than to spend all of his time with the rest of the Ravenclaw quidditch team, for which he was a very talented Keeper.

'Yes! Well done, Cass' Mark shouted over at her, clapping. Rose laughed and clapped.

Cassia smiled greatly as she glanced around the room, Aron was clapping and smiling at her from the other end of the room. Cassia was just mouthing the word 'thankyou' to Aron as a dollop of porridge hit him right in his forehead. Shocked, Cassia turned to see James Potter holding his spoon up and laughing a sort of spiteful laugh. What did he have against Aron? She would have to speak to James about this after breakfast. That kind of behaviour was just nasty and immature.


	5. The Champions

**Thankyou so much for reading this so far, guys. If you are enjoying it so far, please leave a review :) and if you have any pointers or constructive criticism then I'd be more than happy to take that on board too! **

* * *

><p>Cassia, Rose and Mark had all sat with Aron during breakfast to make sure that he was alright after being publicly humiliated by James. He seemed to be OK but he was a shy person, much like the rest of his classmates who had come along, and was probably very embarrassed by the incident.<p>

About ten minutes into breakfast Cassia suddenly stood up, shoving her chair back angrily. She had noticed James get up from his chair at the Gryffindor table and had been waiting for him to leave the hall so that she could have a word with him all through breakfast. All of the anger and annoyance that she had felt on seeing James laughing at Aron came bursting out of her like an erupting volcano when she reached him just outside of the hall.

'You are an absolute disgrace, James!' she shouted and James turned swiftly around, laughing as he noticed who she was, it wasn't like Cassia to get so worked up 'What on Earth do you have against Aron?'

'That depends... Who's Aron?' James asked, looking amused

'The boy you through porridge at. And if you don't even know his name then why would you do that? He's shy, James, and you're not making it any easier for him to be in a new place. Just... Just don't talk to me, OK?'

Cassia stormed off and, as she turned away, James' expression turned quickly from amused to something which even he couldn't figure out. He almost called her back but seemed to think better of it and walked away, shaking his head in disbelief.

Cassia sighed as she realised that she had left her book for Defense Against the Dark Arts in her dorm. According to her watch, first period would start in five minutes. It would take her at least ten to get up to her dorm and back, and that was if she ran.

When she finally made it to Defense Against the Dark Arts, the whole class was paired up and practicing spells on one another. Oblivious to the whole class staring at her as she walked in almost ten minutes late. Cassia searched the room for Rose and was surprised to find that she was practicing the tickling spell with Scorpius Malfoy. This would definitely be the topic of discussion after class! There seemed to be no one left to partner up with. Suddenly, Cassia heard the door open and saw James Potter laughing and being shoved through the door by his friend, Chris Longbottom.

'James, how nice of you to show up' Professor Ferrybell said, still watching a pair of Gryffindors practise the tickling spell 'Why don't you pair up with Cassia, since you both feel that you are too important to show up on time for class'

For a second, Cassia could have sworn she saw a smile start to appear on James' face. But he quickly disproved this by grunting and slumping over to Cassia.

'Right, since you don't want me to talk to you, we might as well just stand here, silently, all period' He said moodily

Cassia rolled her eyes,

'Oh, don't be such a child. Rictusempra!'

James buckled over, laughing uncontrollably and squirming. Cassia smirked as she let him out of the spell and he straightened up, looking taken aback,

'You could have given me a bit a of a warn- Rictusempra!' James shouted mid-sentence, catching Cassia off-guard.

By the end of class, Cassia had tortured James enough that she no longer felt such overwhelming anger toward him. However, she hadn't quite forgiven him yet.

On their way out of the class room, Cassia stopped Rose to question her about her bizarre pairing,

'He just came up to me and asked if I wanted to work with him, Cass. I could hardly say no!' Rose said, blushing slightly

'Well, I'd watch out if I were you. I've never liked Scorpius. He's bad news. He used to pick on Albus, remember!' Cassia tried not to sound judgemental, but she had to look out for her friend.

'Well he's different now. He seems really nice and when I mentioned Al, he actually apoligized' Rose argued

'Well just be careful, then. I don't want you getting hurt.'

* * *

><p>That night in the Great Hall, after everyone had finished eating their dinner, McGonnagal stood behind the Goblet and the Head Mistress and Headmaster from the other schools stood behind her.<p>

'Silence' she called and the whole school hushed, 'It is time, now, to announce the champions for this years Triwizard Tournament'

Whispers broke out. Cassia had already decided not to worry. What were the odds of _her_ being chosen, anyway? She was simply hoping for Mark to be chosen. He could win and, in Cassia's opinion, he would deserve the 'eternal glory' more than anyone she knew.

Mcgonnagal tapped her wand on the goblet and a piece of parchment floated out.

'The champion for Shuantraí Alainn is... Aiden McGinty!'

A tall, built boy with thick blonde hair stood up sharply as the whole of the Great Hall cheered. He practically skipped to where the Head Master and Mistresses were standing, with a goofy grin spread across his face.

'Congratulations, Aiden' McGonnagal said as the proud Shuantraí Alainn Head Master, Odrahn McKay, hugged Aiden tightly, whispering excitedly to him.

'And now, the champion for Znaczenie Spryt' McGonnagal reached out and grabbed a piece of burning parchment as Cassia smiled hopefully at Aron, 'The champion will be... Luiza Kunigunde!'

Again, everyone cheered. The one girl from Znaczenie Spryt stood up looking extremely surprised and pleased, but not at all happy to have the whole school looking at her. She walked quickly to the front of the hall to stand beside Aiden, failing to suppress a smile.

As it neared the time for Hogwart's champion to be announced, the school seemed divided between Mark Walker and James Potter for their preferred choice. But the decision was not theirs to make. The purple flames from the Goblet would be the judges today. A blackened piece of parchment floated up from the flames and McGonnagal caught it, shakily. The whole hall stood still as she began to speak.

'Hogwarts champion will be... Cassia Scamander!'

Cassia's jaw dropped. It felt as though a rope had been wrapped around her heart and was being pulled forcefully.

The foreign student's claps and cheers broke off awkwardly as they noticed that the rest of the hall was sitting in stunned silence.

After a moment, however, the Ravenclaw table began to roar and cheer and the rest of the Great Hall followed suit. Cassia stood up and walked nervously to the front of the hall. As she reached Aiden and Luiza, it seemed to sink in that she had just been chosen out of every of-age student in Hogwarts to compete in a legendary tournement. The whole school was cheering for her. Her heart leapt out of the rope that had been squeezing it and filled with pride and happiness. Aron beamed at her and Rose and Mark, Mark putting his disappointment at not being chosen aside, clapped and looked more proud than Cassia had ever seen them. Stealing a quick glance at James to see if he was disappointed at not being chosen, Cassia was surprised to see him not looking jealously at her, but scowling at Aron who was clapping and staring admiringly at Cassia.

Did he _still_ have a problem with that poor boy?


	6. The Jabberwock

The three Champions were shepherded into a small un-used classroom by the Hogwarts Head Mistress, Professor McGonnagal, the Shuantraí Alainn Head Master, McKay and the Znaczenie Spryt Head Mistress, Jakinzi. As the door closed behind them, McGonnagal spoke:

'Congratulations, the three of you' she beamed at Cassia 'It's time for me to give you the clue for your first task which will take place a month from now. You will have until then to figure it out. During the task, you will be allowed one item, but you may not bring your wand or cast any spells on yourself before your task. You may ask your house-mates help but no-one else. No teachers and no adults.'

She pulled 3 rolled up pieces of parchment from her robes, one tied with a red ribbon, one with a purple ribbon and one with a green ribbon, and held them out to the Champions.

'Each of you will pick a piece of parchment containing a clue to what your task will be. Each piece of parchment contains a different clue for a different task'

Cassia automatically chose the purple ribboned piece, solely because purple was her favourite colour. She didn't have much else to go on, after all. Luiza chose the red ribbon and Aiden took the remaining green one.

'Good luck' McGonnagal said before swiftly leaving the room.

Cassia stared, befuddled, at the lines written neatly on her piece of parchment:

* * *

><p><em>"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!<em>

_The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!"_

* * *

><p>'What on Earth is a Jabberwock?' Cassia whispered as the Luiza scurred off, glued to her parchment and clearly deep in thought.<p>

'Mine aint too easy either' Aiden said, looking at his parchment, perplexed 'You wouldn't happen to know what a Bandersnatch is? 'Cause that would be really great'

Cassia shook her head, 'Sorry'

The two of them left the room silently. Cassia decided to go straight to the Ravenclaw common room and see if Rose or Mark had any idea what a Jabberwock was. As she entered through the painting, Cassia was surprised by loud cheers, claps, and lots of confetti,

'Well done, Cass!' Rose exclaimed as she ran to Cassia and hugged her, 'Everyone is so excited for you'

'And to have a Ravenclaw win the Triwizard cup, that'll be cool' Will Chang said as he patted Cassia on the back

'I can't believe everyone's having a party for me. It's so lovely of you all' Cassia said cheerfully

'Is that about the first task?' Fiona Karlton asked, pointing at the piece of parchment in Cassia's hand

'Oh... yes it is, actually' Cassia said, looking down at the parchment 'By the way, do any of you know what a Jabberwock is?'

Noone seemed to know until a little first year stepped timidly out of the crowd,

'We read that poem in primary school. Primary School is what Scottish muggles call school for kids aged five to eleven' she added as confused faces stared back at her 'My teacher told us that the Jabberwock wasn't real, though. But she said Unicorns weren't real either, I guess'

'Oh. Well did the poem say anything else about it? If you can remember' Cassia asked, nicely.

The girl thought for a moment, searching her brain for the memory of the strange poem that she had read when she was just nine years old.

'Well the poem said something about it having eyes of flame. And the boy in the poem killed it with a sword, I think'

'Thankyou' Cassia said as the girl sunk back into the crowd 'I don't think that they will ask me to slay the Jabberwock, though. I would never do it if they did. Maybe I'll have to collect something from one or something like that'

'Well heres a bright idea. Go to the library tomorrow and just enjoy your party right now!' Mark declared and all of a sudden, the party was in full swing.

Cassia didn't go to bed until one o'clock in the morning that night which was not good seeing as it was only Tuesday which meant that she had classes the next day.

Wednesday went in very slowly, Cassia could think of nothing but going to the library and researching the Jabberwock. Surely it would be in there somewhere. She had actually considered skipping Charms to go to the library but thought that perhaps, being a Champion, she should try her best to act appropriately.

When lunch time finally came around, Cassia headed straight for the library.

She searched for almost all of lunch time before finally finding just one small piece of information on the Jabberwock in a book entitled 'Extremely Dangerous Creatures and how not to be Killed by Them' The small section devoted to the Jabberwock had only a hand drawn sketch of a Jabberwock, which looked particularly frightening with its huge wings, claws , fangs and the fire coming from it's massive mouth, and a small paragraph beneath the picture which read,

'_The Jabberwock is a rare and dangerous creature. It breathes fire on it's victims if it can see them, if it cannot, it will simply follow the smell and hope to catch a glimpse of them so that it can disintegrate them with it's terrible flames. So, if you ever come across this creature, you must be quick to cast an invisibility charm on yourself. The Jabberwock will not be fooled by an invisibility cloak.'_

This seemed to be helpful, except that McGonnagal had told them that wands could not be brought into the task and they could not cast any spell on themselves before entering. If only an invisibility cloak could work, Rose's Uncle Harry would surely have sent his one. Cassia could see that this was going to take her a while. Thanking Merlin that she had a whole month to figure it out, Cassia checked out the book and left to try to make it on time for charms.

* * *

><p><strong>DISCLAIMER: The lines '<strong>_Beware the Jabberwock, my son! __The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!' _**Are from the poem 'The Jabberwocky' (A poem which I reeeally like) these lines and the actual characters the Bandersnatch and the 'Jabberwock' belong to Lewis Carrol but some of the attributes of the Jabberwock in this story were added by me e.g the fact that it breathes fire only if it can see you, invisibility cloaks dont work on it and the fact that it follows invisible victims if it smells them.**


	7. The Yule Ball

The next day the sixth and seventh years and the foreign students were all called to the Great Hall. They entered the hall looking curious and sat on the chairs which had been placed at either side of the room, leaving a large space in the middle of the hall. McGonnagal and McKay stood in the middle of the floor.

'Hush, everyone' McGonnagal said, calmly, and everyone fell silent 'The Triwizard Tournement brings with it another, very popular, tradition. For the sixth and seventh years, and of course, our students from Shuantraí Alainn and Znaczenie Spryt, there shall be what is known as The Yule Ball. It is a dance to which you must bring a partner'

The silence was immidiently broken with both excited and panicked whispers.

'Silence!' McGonnagal shouted over the noise, and everyone obeyed 'Professor McKay and I are going to demonstrate to you all, the type of dancing which we will expect from you during the more formal part of the dance'

McKay put his chubby hand on McGonnagals slender waist, his body a good thirty centimetres from hers, and they began to do a perfect waltz around the room. The whole hall held back laughter as they pranced around the room, McKay's huge belly rippling in his purple robes with pictures of pink rabbits scattered all around it and his tall pink wizards hat.

When the dancing finally ceased, McGonnagal dismissed everyone, announcing that they had the whole day out of classes to prepare for the dance which would take place in just two weeks.

Cassia knew that she should be thinking about the Jabberwock, what the task might actually be and how to go unseen by the creature. But all that she could think about was who she would go to the dance with. Normally she wouldn't care about such a thing, she probably wouldn't even have gone, but the Champions _had_ _to _be there and dance at the beginning of the ball with their partners.

The weather was lovely that day so Cassia, Mark and Rose sat outside in the sunny fields under a tree.

'Who do you two think you'll take to the ball?' Rose asked the two

'I have no idea. Hopefully someone will ask me, I guess' Cassia said doubtfully

'I dunno. I'll probably ask someone later. Not sure who, though. What about you?'

Rose flushed pink and said quietly,

'Scorpius asked me on the way out of the Great Hall'

Mark and Cassia's jaws hit the ground.

'Scorpius Malfoy?' Mark shouted 'He's an absolute prat, Rose. He picked on albus last year, mind? A fifth year against a first year. It was just pathetic'

He shook his head, looking furious. Cassia said nothing but Rose obviously knew what she was thinking because she stood up and shouted angrily,

'Well then it's lucky that who I go with has absolutely nothing to do with either of you' and she tore off back to the castle.

Mark stayed on the grass, looking stubborn, but Cassia stood up after a moment of thought and ran after Rose. When she finally made it into the castle, however, Cassia was intercepted by Aron

'Oh, Cassia, there you are. I have been searching for you' Aron said, breathelessly 'I wondered if you would like to go to this Yule Ball with me?'

His hopeful eyes stared into hers and she decided that, as she had to go with someone, why shouldn't it be Aron?

'Yes, of course I will' Cassia said, smiling

'Great. Wonderful. I'll see you later then' Aron said as he drifted off, looking happier than ever.

Cassia hoped that Aron didn't think that her acceptence meant that she wanted more than friendship. She liked Aron, but she didn't feel _that _way about him. And there was a feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her she should have been holding out for someone else to ask her, though she had no idea who.

Rose wasn't in the library, the common room, or anywhere on the grounds. After hours of searching, Cassia was about to give up when she heard voices from a room which she had never entered: The girls bathroom on the second floor

After identifying one of the voices as Rose's, Cassia pressed her ear against the door and listened intently,

'But he's so nice now, Myrtle. He would never do anything to hurt me!'

'Oh, don't cry' Myrtle said, ruining the sympathetic tone by laughing, 'You're acting like a baby! Just tell Cat... or was it Cam? It doesnt matter, anyway, just tell her that it's none of her smelly business and her and that Mark boy should just keep their big snotty noses out of it'

A feeling of deep regret fell over Cassia. She wished that she had been more accepting, trusted Rose's judgement a little more. Perhaps Scorpius _had_ changed. Surely he deserved a second chance.

A noise that told her that Rose was getting up and heading for the door made Cassia hide in a nearby class room. She watched as Rose walked off, wiping her eyes with a tissue. Guilt ridden, Cassia decided to apoligise to Rose at lunch and attempt to make Mark do the same.

On her way to the Great Hall for lunch, however, Cassia was knocked off of her feet by a tall, blonde Slytherin boy with an evil glint in his eye,

'Watch where you're going, freak' Scorpius said, laughing.


	8. Knock Out

Cassia pulled herself up from the ground. She didn't care about being called a freak, she took that to mean 'unusual' which was a quality she cherished. However, it had now been made clear to Cassia that her best friend was putting her trust into a boy who should not be trusted. She knew that she had to stop this.

Rose was sitting alone in the Great Hall eating her lunch when Cassia walked in and sat next to her.

'Come to apologise, have you?' Rose asked, cheekily

'Actually, I _was_ on my way here to apologise for being so judgementel' smugness grew on Rose's face as Cassia said this 'But on my way here, something happened-'

'Oh let me guess, Cass. Did Scorpius do something? Did he say something mean?' Rose mocked, 'He warned me that you'd do this. I thought that I could trust you. I told him that you wouldn't sink that low but here you are!'

Rose shoved her chair back angrily and stormed out of the Great Hall as Cassia sat in utter confusion.

'What was that all about?' Cassia jumped at the sudden arrival of James Potter

'Oh... Well it's a long story, really' she said, looking quite upset

'Well I've got time! But first... who are you going to the Yule Ball with? Anyone asked you?' James asked cooly

'I'm going with Aron' Cassia felt wrong saying it. She hadn't felt that way telling anyone else.

'Oh' James seemed to lose his cool as he choked on his words 'Well. Um. Oh! Look at the time. I'm supposed to meet, er... Albus. He wanted a word'

James stood up, clumsily knocking over a chair as he did so, and swiftly left the Great Hall.

* * *

><p>The next two weeks flew by. Cassia still hadn't spoken to Rose or figured out how to complete the first task. Things weren't going too well at all.<p>

Cassia sat in her dorm, curling her hair for the Yule Ball. Rose was probably off somewhere, snogging Scorpius or bad-mouthing Cassia to Myrtle. Mark was going to the ball with a girl from Shantrai Alainn. He asked her just a day before the ball. She immidiately accepted his invitation and cancelled her date with the Hufflepuff boy with whom she had been planning to go.

When Cassia had finally finished curling her long brown hair into big, loose, curls, she left the girls dorm and stepped into the common room which was empty apart from Aron.

'You look beautiful, Cassia' Aron said, looking as though he was in a trance at the girl standing before him in her long, blue, gown which sat perfectly on her and her high heeled, silver shoes which made the relatively short girl look rather tall.

'Thankyou' Cassia replied, 'I don't normally wear make-up but I thought that for the occasion, it would be nice'

'It's wonderful'

Aron took her arm and began escorting her out of the common room and down to the ball.

'Aron, I need you to know that we're friends, OK? Just friends. You're lovely but I'm not looking for more than that' Cassia admitted, she wouldn't want to lead anyone on.

Looking slightly disappointed, Aron nodded and walked her to where the rest of the champions and their dates were stood. Aiden wore bright yellow dress robes which looked surprisingly good on the handsome young blonde. He was with a very pretty Hufflepuff girl called Stephanie Winkle. Luiza wore a black dress which showed no more than her neck and the bottom halves of her arms and wore her hair in a low bun. She was with one of the Znaczenie Spryt boys who's name Cassia did not know. He had black hair like Luiza, except that his was short and he wore plain black dress robes.

The champions and their dates waltzed out onto the dance floor and were joined by everyone else within minutes.

Soon the party was in full swing. Butterbeers and other drinks were being consumed by all and Cassia was growing tired of dancing with Aron. She pulled away from him,

'I'm going to go sit down for a while, OK?'

Aron's face scrunched up. He looked hurt and angry all of a sudden. Cassia thought that maybe it was all the fire whisky he had drunk that was making him act strange,

'Why don't you like me Cassia?'

'I do like you!' Cassia shouted

'Well give me a kiss, then!' Aron pulled Cassias face forward and kissed her as she tried to push him away. He was much too strong for her.

Suddenly, Aron was pulled back. Cassia stared in shock as James threw his fist into Aron's mouth, knocking a few teeth out as he did so. Leaving Aron to lie unconscious on the floor and without so much as a look at Cassia, James stormed out of the hall and disappeared from sight.

Everyone was staring at Cassia but she didn't care, she just wanted to catch James. If only she had the ability to move her legs. They felt like jelly. Suddenly she realised that James hadn't been wearing dress robes and she hadn't even seen him until he knocked out Aron. If he hadn't even been there then how could he have known what was happening? Something was weird there. Just one more thing for Cassia to figure out.

Deciding that the night wasn't going to get any better, Cassia left the ball and went to her dorm where she was surprised to see Rose, crying.

'Rose, whats wrong?' Cassia asked as she quickly sat next to Rose and put her arm around her. However, she was pretty sure that she already new the answer.

'Scorpius is what's wrong! He went to the ball with some other girl. I waited outside the dungeons for him for ages being smirked at by everyone coming in and out of them until he walked out with some Slytherin girl and they... they walked right past me. He was laughing at me the whole time, Cass. Didn't you see him at the ball?'

She hadn't. Too much had gone on for her to notice.

'No, I didn't. I'm so sorry, Rose. You deserve so much better' Cassia hugged her friend.

'Thankyou for not saying 'I told you so'' Rose said as Cassia wiped a tear from her face.


	9. The First Task

The two weeks following the Yule Ball went by without much drama at all. Rose still wasn't over the 'Scorpius incident', as Cassia liked to call it, but she had gotten a little better. James hadn't spoken to Cassia at all but he stared at Aron lot. He stared at Cassia, too. In a different way.

Cassia still hadn't figured out what to do about the task. She had asked everybody in Ravenclaw and noone seemed to know a way to make yourself invisible without casting a spell on yourself or using an invisibility cloak. Rose hadn't really listened when Cassia had asked her for any ideas, she wasn't really talking at that point. Cassia felt that she should have waited a little longer to ask instead of asking her the day after the Yule Ball, but, unfortunately, Cassia had inherited her mother's lack of tact.

The night before the first task, Cassia was in a panic. She was sitting in the Ravenclaw common room, searching through a book on invisibility charms and hoping that she would find something useful when Mark dawdled in.

'Where have you been?' Cassia asked impatiently 'The first task is _tomorrow. _You said that you would help me out!'

Mark looked back guiltily as he remembered their conversation from the night before

'I'm sorry, Cass. I really am. I completely forgot. The boys wanted to play and we hadn't had a quidditch match at all this y-' he stopped speaking as Cassia suddenly shot out of her chair, eyes bulging and clasping her hands to her mouth

'That's it!' She whispered as she ran to the girls dorm leaving Mark standing alone and confused

* * *

><p>The first task was being held in a massive stadium which was brought in specially for the task. The whole school, the Shantrai Alainn and Znaczenie Spryt students, and many parents and friends were there to see it. Mark and Rose escorted Cassia to the Champions tent where they were told to make their way to the stands soon if they wanted good seats,<p>

'Good luck, Cassi' Rose said and she hugged Cassia tightly

'Good luck. Not that you need it!' Mark exclaimed, ruffling Cassia's hair and giving her a brotherly smile

'Thankyou, guys. Now go away and get your seats, OK?' Cassia said, forcing a laugh

She didn't want them to know how nervous she was. Cassia had always been the one who couldn't be hurt, the strong one who could take anything that anyone said. Right now, however, she felt like she was being thrown into the mouth of a volcano. Falling deeper and deeper. Inches away from being engulfed by the red hot lava...

James appeared out of nowhere. Holding her in a tight embrace, he whispered into her ear,

'Be careful'

And before she could even wrap her arms around his reassuringly warm body, he was gone. It seemed that he had literally disappeared into thin air. Cassia stood in a daze, wondering what on Earth had just happened, when McKay spoke in his cheery, Irish voice,

'Okay, Champions! How are we today, then?'

Cassia, Aiden and Luiza gave light smiles and muttered

'Alright'

'Of course yer not!' McKay laughed 'Yer petrified. Ye don't even know what yer task is. Well It's high time you found out.'

Cassia's stomach lurched

'All ye've got to do is get yer creature from one end of the stadium to the other. Simple as that!'

It didn't sound simple to Cassia. The pictures of the Jabberwock looked absolutely terrifying! It had huge claws and giant teeth, what if it managed to grab her?

But Cassia had no time for worrying as McGonnagal pulled her to the side looking highly concerned

'Are you ready for this, Cassia?' she asked sternly

'Yes. Yes, definitely' Cassia suddenly believed the words as she said them. Although she had known it the second that James had appeared. She could do this.

McGonnagal looked doubtfully at Cassia's item of choice but with a look at the young Champion's determined and confident face, she walked off looking partially reassured.

'Cassia, you're up!' McKay shouted, patting Cassia on the back as she walked timidly into the stadium

Cassia's heart stopped as she spotted the creature. The Jabberwock had to be around fourty foot tall, with claws the size of Cassia herself and dark red and black scales. Cassia quickly mounted the bright blue broomstick, looked down to ensure that she was completely invisible, took a deep breath and pushed herself off of the ground. The audience could see nothing but a broomstick flying itself through the air, floating nearer and nearer to the huge Jabberwock which was drinking from a large basin of water.

The monster's sense of smell wasn't quite as good as Cassia had hoped. Grudgingly, she flew close to it's nose and was almost cut in half as it threw it's claw at her. But at least she had caught it's attention. Cassia had to fly to the beast's nose every minute or so to show it that she was still there and every time it would try to grab her with either a claw or it's mouth.

When Cassia had finally gotten the Jabberwock around three quarters of the way to the finishing line, something caught her by surprise. Her hand was visible. The prototype broomstick must not have been as perfect as George had thought. Breaking out in a sweat and panicking beyond belief, Cassia hid her hand in her still-invisible sleeve and flew up to the Jabberwock's nose. It's mouth suddenly opened wide. Cassia flew upwards as quickly as she could and around to the other side of the Jabberwock's head as flames erupted from it's gaping mouth. It was her foot that was visible this time.

The Jabberwock began to turn around and Cassia flew back to the other side of it's head, making the Jabberwock turn back, too. Cassia tucked her foot into her trousers and flew back to it's nose, the air was still hot from the flames. She flew back a little, making the Jabberwock move closer to the finish line which had been marked with a purple magical barrier which would stop the Jabberwock from leaving that area once it was in.

It seemed that Cassia was going to manage it. Just one more trip to it's nose would do it. But as she pushed forward on the broom, Cassia's hands slipped on the sweat and suddenly she was hanging from the broom and her foot and hand were visible again. The Jabberwock looked at her, furiously, and breathed in deeply. Abandoning any idea of winning the first task and focusing more on the word from the book she had read,

_Disintigrate_

Cassia let go of the broomstick, eyes shut tight to hold in the tears, and fell thirty foot to the ground.

The Jabberwock roared in triumph, assuming that it's flames had disintigrated the young witch. It stomped it's huge feet, almost crushing the unconcious Cassia as it did so. Looking down, it saw Cassia still in one piece. It raised a foot to stomp on her. The crowd cried in horror as the creature's foot slowly rose.

All of a sudden, Cassia opened her eyes and seeing the massive foot in the air, pulled her self up and ran. The Jabberwock gazed around the ground stupidly until it spotted Cassia a short distance away and ran toward her.

The entire stadium roared and clapped as the Jabberwock ran straight though the barrier. Cassia stared around, stepping out from the barrier where the Jabberwock couldn't get to her. The crowd were cheering so loud that she could barely think. Smiling greatly, Cassia began to walk toward the champions tent. Suddenly it sunk in that she had just done it. She had completed the first task.

She found it difficult to believe that she was still alive, after that.


End file.
